iPad 3 restarts every 3 minutes

Client brings in iPad 3 Wi-Fi with GSM that he tried to reset because it was constantly re-booting. So it came in stuck on activation screen. It fails to activate, displaying that activation server is temporarily unreachable.

I timed it, and exactly every 200 seconds it restarts, starting with what looks like a "grey curtain" being drawn over the screen then boot-looping. When on the activation screen, it charges and holds the charge normally.

I am not sure if I should try a restore, I'm afraid to brick it.

Anyone solved an issue like this before? Or can suggest something to start with?

4 Answers

I had same problem 2 weeks ago, I dont know if its related but after i done update for iOS 8.1.2 about an hour later it shut down then booted back up and shut down again and just kept looping. I plugged in the charger but it just kept looping and switching off still so I took charger back out and left it looping till it died completely. By this point i got so frustrated I left it dead for 3 days, I dont know if it matters how long it was left off but I had a brainwave to plug the usb charger into my Wii and left it there for five minute and all of a sudden it woke up to the home screen and its been on ever since. Im no expert but i think leaving it off for a few days actually helped. I imagine if its stuck in a loop Then so too is the clock in which the boot system uses to start up but like i said im no expert but it seemed to work for me thankfully. Ive had similar problem with laptops and desktops stuck on a loop and Believe it or not the bios time showing wrong time and date was a big part of the problem when stuck in a loop. I hope this helps.

I opened up the iPad to examine it. It appears that the touch screen and the battery have been changed. I decided to go the easy way: disconnected the battery, pressed one the power button for 15 seconds (I do this to drain current from laptop circuit, decided to try it on the iPad). Then reconnected the battery, charged the iPad, and it started normally. I was able to activate it and so far it is running well.

Hey Rany, I have a similar issue wherein the battery had drained out and it was stuck in the loop forever. To get out of the loop I did a hard reset for a lot of time(as suggested in some forums) and it opened up the homescren with 100% charge(if i plug it out of the wall socket it switches off). Now when I decided to reset it from the menu I saw that my wifi is greyed out. I decided to go ahead with the reset anyhow. Now it prompts me to collect to iTunes but I can't without removing it from the powercord and whenever I try to plug it out, it just goes off.

And it restarts every 2- min in a loop.

Loop history:

1) Shows 0% charge

2) 2 seconds later apple logo appears

3) Immediately the homescreen opens up showing 100% battery and prompts me to connect to itunes(I tried connecting it to mac and trying to wake the device up but its of no use,)

Is there a solution to this problem? I would be highly obliged if you can advice me regarding the same.

Is it recognized by USB in that state? It may be possible to use some kind of third party software like iTools to read the real time log.

This is probably going to be drop damage to the PMIC and it just isn't outputting the right signal :( The only solvable thing that I can think of is just bad battery. If any iDevice fails to receive the input from the battery of the battery temp, and the battery gas gauge--it shuts off.

A failure in these lines can come from the battery itself, or some damage to the board that broke continuity in the line (not on the radar screen if the iPad was unopened prior to the problem)

I downloaded iTools. It kept disconnecting every time the iPad restarted.

The iPad looks like it had the battery and touch screen changed. I did not examine the board, since disconnecting and reconnecting the battery kicked it out of the boot loop. Would you do anything more or just wait and see?